Rabbis Arrested in Plot to Kidnap, Torture Husbands to Force Divorce

An FBI agent stands guard as evidence in the case of rabbis coercing divorces out of Jewish husbands sits in the trunk of a vehicle in Brooklyn.

Two rabbis were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for receiving tens of thousands of dollars from an undercover agent posing as a Jewish woman who wanted them to intimidate her fictitious husband into offering her a divorce.

New Jersey rabbi Mendel Epstein and rabbi Martin Wolmark allegedly plotted to kidnap and then torture the husband between April 2013 and October, according to a federal complaint.

Mr. Epstein allegedly told the undercover agent — in conversations that were recorded — that he commits about one kidnapping every year to year and a half, according to the complaint. Mr. Epstein allegedly said he employed “tough guys” — named Ariel Potash and another man known only as “Yaavov,” who were also arrested by the FBI — who used electric cattle prods, karate, handcuffs and would place plastic bags over the heads of husbands in order to convince them to agree to a divorce, according to the complaint.

The husbands were sometimes tortured in vans, he allegedly said, according to the complaint.

According to Jewish law, spouses can only be divorced if the husband provides his wife with a document called a “get,” according to the complaint. The wife can also sue for a divorce in a rabbinical court, and the court may order the husband to consent to a divorce, according to the complaint.

“I guarantee you that if you’re in the van, you’d give a get to your wife,” Mr. Epstein was allegedly recorded saying.

“We take an electric cattle prod” he allegedly added. “If it can get a bull that weighs five tons to move…you put it in certain parts of his body and in one minute the guy will know.”

Mr. Wolmark’s attorney didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Mr. Epstein could not be reached for comment.

In the case of the undercover sting, Mr. Epstein said it would cost “$10,000 to pay for the rabbis on the rabbinical court to approve the kidnapping and an additional $50,000 to $60,000 to pay for the ‘tough guys,’” according to the complaint.

On Oct. 2, The undercover officer allegedly wired $20,000 to Mr. Epstein in exchange for him making sure a warehouse in Middlesex County, NJ, would be a good place to conduct the torture, according to the complaint.

Investigators also conducted a search at 45 E. 9th Street in Brooklyn in connection to the arrests, a law-enforcement official said.

All of the defendants were charged with kidnapping and were arraigned in federal court in Trenton, N.J.